Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 21-2 (2021) · Public Health, Safety, and Welfare–Climate Change Induced Conditions
Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins.
Each resolution is recorded as three edges:
competesWith (the tension),
prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and
defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way).
The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context.
Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
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Engineer A BER 07.6 Objective Complete Reporting Bird Species Threat
prevails over
Engineer A Objective Truthful Reporting Bird Species BER Case 07.6
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
No State context committed for this edge.
Engineer A Public Welfare Paramount Gray Area Climate Change Tidal Crossing
prevails over
Engineer A Conditional Proceeding Documented Uncertainty Tidal Crossing Alternative Pathway
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Foreseeable Third-Party Flooding Harm from Hydraulic Capacity Increase
- Potential Safety Risk Without Confirmed Imminent Harm — Engineer A Climate Assessment
- Public Safety Paramount Obligation Beyond Legal Requirements
Engineer A Non-Acquiescence Client B Safety Analysis Suppression
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Non-Compliance Insistence — Deferral of Safety Analysis
- Competing Duties - Faithful Agent vs. Public Safety
- Competing Duties — Client Authority vs. Third-Party Protection
- Engineer A Conditional Withdrawal Obligation
- Foreseeable Upstream Flood Harm - Tidal Crossing Upgrade
- Public Safety at Risk - Upstream Residential Flood Hazard
- Public Safety at Risk — Upstream Residential Flood Exposure
Engineer A Regulatory Authority Proactive Disclosure Upstream Flood Risk
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Non-Compliance Insistence — Deferral of Safety Analysis
- Competing Duties - Faithful Agent vs. Public Safety
- Competing Duties — Client Authority vs. Third-Party Protection
- Engineer A Conditional Withdrawal Obligation
- Foreseeable Upstream Flood Harm - Tidal Crossing Upgrade
- Public Safety at Risk - Upstream Residential Flood Hazard
- Public Safety at Risk — Upstream Residential Flood Exposure
Engineer A Withdrawal After Owner Refusal BER Case 18-9
prevails over
Engineer A BER 18-9 Graduated Escalation Coastal Development Withdrawal
No State context committed for this edge.
Engineer A Public Welfare Paramount Gray Area Climate Change Tidal Crossing
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Non-Compliance Insistence — Deferral of Safety Analysis
- Competing Duties - Faithful Agent vs. Public Safety
- Competing Duties — Client Authority vs. Third-Party Protection
- Engineer A Conditional Withdrawal Obligation
- Foreseeable Upstream Flood Harm - Tidal Crossing Upgrade
- Public Safety at Risk - Upstream Residential Flood Hazard
- Public Safety at Risk — Upstream Residential Flood Exposure
Engineer A Graduated Escalation Before Withdrawal Tidal Crossing
prevails over
Engineer A Conditional Project Withdrawal After Client Refusal Tidal Crossing
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Conditional Withdrawal Obligation
- Professional Disassociation Decision — Engineer A Withdrawal Threshold
Engineer A Third-Party Upstream Flood Risk Notification Twenty Homes
prevails over
Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Client Non-Compliance Insistence — Deferral of Safety Analysis
- Competing Duties - Faithful Agent vs. Public Safety
- Competing Duties — Client Authority vs. Third-Party Protection
- Engineer A Conditional Withdrawal Obligation
- Foreseeable Upstream Flood Harm - Tidal Crossing Upgrade
- Public Safety at Risk - Upstream Residential Flood Hazard
- Public Safety at Risk — Upstream Residential Flood Exposure
Engineer A Climate-Adjusted Regulatory Gap Risk Disclosure Tidal Crossing
prevails over
Engineer A Climate Change Moving Target Design Consideration Tidal Crossing
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Regulatory Standard Climate Gap - Tidal Crossing Project
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Client Cost-Directive Safety Analysis Non-Subordination Tidal Crossing vs Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
Engineer A Client Risk Consequence Communication Client B Tidal Crossing vs Engineer A Public Welfare Paramount Gray Area Climate Change Tidal Crossing
Engineer A Climate-Adjusted Regulatory Gap Risk Disclosure Tidal Crossing vs Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
Engineer A Conditional Project Withdrawal After Client Refusal Tidal Crossing vs Engineer A Faithful Agent Written Risk Notification Client B Tidal Crossing
Engineer A Preliminary Judgment Qualified Disclosure Client B Upstream Risk vs Engineer A Regulatory Authority Proactive Disclosure Upstream Flood Risk
What the board concluded
- Engineer A has an obligation to consider potential impacts on public health, safety, and welfare, regardless of whether that is required by applicable law, including changing weather patterns and climate.
- If Engineer A is reasonably certain that the project will result in adverse impacts to public health, safety, and welfare, and if the Client B denies the requisite evaluation, Engineer A should include the concern regarding potential adverse public health, safety, and welfare impacts in an engineering report for consideration by regulatory agencies and the public.
How comparable cases resolved the same tension
A faithful-agent duty yields to a public-protection obligation. The yielding obligation ("Faithful Agent") recurs across cases; the obligation that overrides it and the context under which it yields differ case by case. This is the case-law move: not a single rule, but a family of context-indexed resolutions.
| Case | Obligation that prevailed | Yielding obligation | Context (defeasibleUnder) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
24-01
Balancing Client Directives and Public...
|
Engineer L Client Budget Pressure Refusal | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client |
| Engineer L Client Override Regulatory Report | Engineer L Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer L Confirmed Risk Without Safeguards; Engineer L Resource Constrained Client | |
|
20-4
Public Health, Safety, and...
|
Engineer B Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B |
| Engineer A Post-Override Regulatory Reporting | Engineer A Faithful Agent Boundary | MWC Override of Engineers A and B | |
|
95-5
Failure To Include Information In...
|
Engineer B Expert Witness Neutrality | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias |
| Engineer B Complete Technical Reporting | Engineer B Faithful Agent Boundary | Engineer B Adversarial Engagement; Engineer B Client Defense Bias | |
|
04-8
Public Welfare—Client Action Following...
|
Engineer A Wetland Confidentiality Limits | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |
| Engineer A Safety Obligation Wetland Fill | Engineer A Faithful Agent Limits Wetland | Engineer A Confirmed Environmental Risk; Engineer A Faithful Agent Duty Conflict |